WTC

[Richard Moody]

   > I agree with Richard's words, but they do not exclude an equal
>temperament for the WTC, and I think they should.
>We hear of Bach "tuning his clavier in 15 minutes",
>but a credible  ET in that time is going to be a real chore
 > True there is no direct
> historical evidence as to which temperament Bach intended *for* the WTC,
> however,  there is a direct quote from his son, CPE Bach that his father
did
> NOT prefer ET.

Ok lets look at the quote.  Where is it, what is the source?  When ever
someone quotes Braid White and his ET for WTC statement, at least the source
is given and we can know for sure exactly what was said and in what context.

    How does the "NOT prefer ET" statement stand up to the same scrutiny?
ET had to exist in Bach's time and he had to know something about it in
order to say he did not prefer it.
Of course this is not him speaking but his son speaking for him.   We know
Bach wrote WTC and WT means "well tempered"   Ed mentions the wells which
contain pure fifths So how can something "well tempered" contain fifths that
are not tempered at all? "Well Tempered" means something, and that should be
pinned down.
    "Bach tuned his harpsichord in 15 minutes." I have heard this too. Once
again, we need to examine the sources and see what actually transpired.  Did
Bach say he needed only 15 minutes to render his harpsichord playable, or
did some one observe Bach tuning a harpshichord and  playing 15 minutes
later?  I saw my teacher many times spend 5 minutes tuning his harpsichord
and start playing.   Can I say my teacher tuned his harpsichord in 5
minutes?   I can say it was ET.  And  2 manual and at least 4 ranks.
    I think we must grant that Bach knew more than one temperament, and he
was an experienced tuner.   Some temperaments take longer, some not so long.
15 minutes for a small harpsichord is no biggie, even for ET.  What
instrument was Bach tuning?  BTW...there is a video tape available from Jim
Coleman that has George Defebaugh setting an ET temp in, is it really one
and a half minutesgine?.
        Finally even if Bach "did not prefer ET" that doesn't mean he didn't
compose WTC with ET in mind.  We know (don't we?) that he intended WTC to be
played on one tuning.   Today ET is the logical choice of  for 24 pieces in
24 keys.   For Bach we know at least it was something "well tempered".  But,
the $ 64K question what is well tempered? ET is certainly well tempered.
     Perhaps Bach after  listening to WTC decided what a lot of people are
claiming today.  That music (keyboard music) in some keys does sounds better
in a particular temperament.   How many other pieces did he write in the
"remote" keys?  We can ask questions and hypothesize on and on, but sooner
or later we must verify with evidence.
     The question (and its reply) needs to be examined in its earliest
source, in context, and  how it was stated in German.  I wonder what word
was used for ET?  Is that all CPE had to say about  his father and
temperament?  I  wonder where  the other part of the question is,   "Well,
what temperament did your father prefer?"  ---ric